The Cove, 2009 Documentary Movie Review
A Documentary That Exposes the Truth About the Dolphin Industry
Aug 12, 2009
Anyone who’s ever seen a live dolphin show has marveled at the intelligence and playfulness of the seemingly happy animals. But according to former dolphin trainer and current activist, Ric O’Barry, “the dolphin’s smile is nature’s greatest deception.” While dolphins perform and audiences cheer, the captive animals, who are incredibly sensitive to sound, are suffering unimaginable agony and stress. Ric O’Barry should know.
Ric O'Barry and the Rise of the Dolphin Industry
When O’Barry helped create the Flipper TV series in the 1960s, he had no idea he would be setting into motion events that would help turn the dolphin and marine park industries into billion dollar businesses and result in the deaths of thousands of animals each year. Over the course of the series O’Barry helped to capture and train five dolphins, animals he adored. It wasn’t until the apparent suicide of Cathy, one of the dolphins featured in the series, that the guilt-ridden trainer was prompted to change his ways. In 1970 he founded the Dolphin Project to raise public awareness about dolphin captivity, and to free as many as possible. Since then he has worked tirelessly to put an end to the industry he helped create. While certainly not personally responsible, O’Barry is overwhelmingly remorseful and full of regret.
Which brings us to The Cove, a chilling documentary about a group of activists led by O’Barry, determined to expose the brutal dolphin slaughter that takes place over several months every year in Japan.
Filmmakers Expose Taiji’s Dirty Secret
In a beautiful, but remote lagoon off the coast of Taiji, lies a murderous secret that the Japanese whaling industry and government are determined to keep under wraps.
Surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, is a hidden cove where some 23,000 dolphins are slaughtered each year. This horrific spectacle, carefully hidden from public view, takes place in this scenic coastal town that, ironically, promotes itself as a paradise for whale and porpoise watching.
The killing begins with an artificial wall of sound created to lure migrating dolphins to the cove by confusing them and leaving them disoriented. As the sound becomes unbearable, they literally swim for their lives trying to escape it, and are then sealed by nets in the small inlet. The footage of hundreds of animals racing to escape the horror only to get trapped in the place they’ll be murdered is heartbreaking.
While the “best” are sold to marine parks around the world for about $150,000 each, the rest are brutally butchered for their meat and sold for about $600 a piece. The meat is then distributed and sold as regular whale meat to an unsuspecting public. Even more disturbing than the obvious deception is the fact that dolphin meat contains massive levels of mercury and is slowly poisoning the unknowing consumers. According to the Oceanic Preservation Society, if an average bottlenose dolphin on the East Coast of the USA washed ashore, it would technically be considered toxic waste. The fact that for a time it became a part of the required school lunches for the children of Taiji is both despicable and terrifying.
Top Secret Dolphin Slaughter in Idyllic Japanese Cove
The murderous event is top secret (or at least it was) and the ridiculous cloak and dagger lengths to which the Japanese authorities go to keep it under wraps is quite unbelievable. Filmmakers trying to gain access to the area to view the slaughter are badgered and threatened, with even the local police getting involved in the harassment.
Fortunately, with the help of director and National Geographic photographer, Louie Psihoyos, Ric O’Barry put together an environmental commando squad of sorts, consisting of divers, photographers, and marine experts, to thwart the media blackout and gather evidence of the slaughter.
With the use of a plethora of high-tech equipment the team undertook some covert missions to capture the slaughter and expose the truth of Taiji’s dolphin industry. The footage they capture is the stuff of horror movies.
Hidden cameras capture disturbing footage of the rejected dolphins being brutally killed, while sound equipment captures the eerie cries of suffering animals destined for the slaughter. While the entire film is powerful, it’s the few minutes near the end that tell the true tale. In those few minutes, the brutal slaughter of a group of dolphins is shown, and audiences watch in quiet horror as the beautiful blue lagoon turns red with blood. Once the slaughter is finished, a local fisherman puts out a campfire with a pail of water taken from the ocean – the water that spills out over the smoking embers is red.
Dolphins Not Protected by International Whaling Commission
Sadly, the practice isn’t illegal. While dolphins are members of the whale family, they aren’t covered by the International Whaling Commission. While the IWC could take action to end this horror, they don’t because according to the film, the Japanese government has hindered it and bought the support of several poor Caribbean and African nations, where officials admit to never even having seen a real whale. In his constant quest to make a difference, O’Barry at one point disrupts an IWC meeting by quietly walking in with a television set strapped to his chest, showing the above mentioned five minutes of footage. He manages to get a good portion shown before being escorted out by security.
Part horror, part spy thriller, part corruption expose, and part redemption tale, The Cove is more than an environmental warning. It is champion filmmaking at it’s best. Chilling, emotionally draining, and completely eye-opening, The Cove deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. This is the kind of movie whose success won’t be determined by how much money it makes, but rather what kind of difference it makes. As Louie Psihoyos says, he wanted to capture not just the slaughter, but something to make people change. If nothing else, no one who has seen The Cove will ever be able to watch a dolphin show with a clear conscience, and hopefully, they'll never try.
See this movie.
- The Cove
- Directed by Louie Psihoyos
- Running Time: 92 minutes
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